Is there an adjustment for this, or is maybe the shifter just worn out?

The is on my '75 coupe with manual 4-speed.

Vman73 said: Bill, surprised you haven’t got a reply from Joel (Adams Apple) on this one, he’s our transmission expert. I’ll take my best shot at it. Since you mention that it seems to be a left/right issue, I’ll say it is the shifter. Probably worn out where the lever engages the cams in the shifter assembly. If your problem was back/forth or popping out of gear, I would suggest adjustment of the shifting rods, this sounds like the shifter itself. The bottom of the lever pivots left and right to engage either the R, 1st-2nd or 3rd-4th cams. If the pivot, the 1st-2nd cam or the bottom of the lever are worn out they could be the cause of your problem. I know of no adjustment that might help the side to side issue other than complete rebuild of the shifter. Check out rebuild kits from some of the Corvette vendors and you’ll see the parts/pieces involved. Rebuilding the shifter once out of the car is pretty straightforward, getting it out of the car and back it will test your patience to new levels !! Let’s see if anyone else has any other ideas before digging into a shifter R and R, it’s not pretty !!

I'm in the middle of painting the car now (I'll post pictures when it is done -- it is quite a wild. 60's kinda' look), but someday I plan on pulling the transmission and looking into that issue.

BillHanna said: When I shift to 2nd (either up-shift or downshift) I have to not hold the lever to the left or it will not go into gear.  I have gotten used to it by now, but I was wondering what suggestions you may have as to what the problem could be.  All the other gear shifts are tight.  I believe this is the stock shifter.

Jumping out of gear either on acceleration, or on deceleration indicates the trans either has too much internal endplay(forward/rearward), or the synchronizer teeth on the speed gear are worn, as well as the teeth on the synchro slider/hub. Either of these issues would require removal of the trans to replace any worn/damaged parts.

And I'll agree aboot getting the shifter out by itself....not a pretty thing to have to do, but it will(eventually) find it's way out. 

Adams' Apple said:
You lost me there....not sure edzachary what you mean. The 1-2 shift would normally require you to hold the lever to the left slightly while moving the shifter down into 2nd. If you are in fact saying that doing it "normally" will keep it from going into 2nd, then I would have to agree there is an issue with the shifter being worn, or sticky. A rebuild kit will replace the spring shims, and a few other small parts that should tighten it up, but will not address worn holes in the levers themselves.

At some point, I do plan on pulling the transmission and will address the shifter at that point.  I'd love to put in a Hurst shifter, but at over $1000.00 that can't be in the plans. . . (Last time I bought one it was less than $100.00, but then that was 50 years ago.)

Thanks for you input.

Vman73 said: Bill, reading your latest response gave me another thought. If you problem is going into second, pulling to the left the shift lever is also trying to go over and into R. The lock out rod on the shifter is what keeps you from going there. Perhaps your lock out rod is getting worn off at the tip allowing you to partially engage the R cam as you pull back. That is an easy one to check. Unscrew your shift knob, remove the spring and the T handle with the lock out rod attached and check out the end of the rod. I once fixed a 75-77 4 speed car that allowed the owner to go into reverse without lifting the lock out. Pulled the rod and it was badly worn, replace the T handle and rod assembly and everything was good to go. A new T handle and rod assembly are available and pretty reasonable, just make sure you get the right length for your car. There was a switch in the length of the rod sometime in the mid to late 70’s, don’t remember if it got longer or shorter but it changed. Certainly worth a look !!

Thanks!